Giro Launches New Latch Flat Pedal Shoe
Giro has introduced a new all-mountain flat pedal shoe to their line-up today with the Latch. The Latch uses a new midsole technology that Giro calls 'Mute Foam', in addition to a new compound for the outsole grip, a new tread design, and a new last.
Giro says that the Mute Foam midsole was developed with feedback from Reed Boggs, Josh “Loose Dog” Lewis, and Graham Agassiz, who said that they were getting bounced off their pedals while riding rocky and rough trails. Giro claims that their new Mute Foam technology provides a slower rebound compared to typical EVA foam and that means that Mute Foam "reduces the typical fast bounce found in traditional midsoles, improving contact that results in more stability and increased control."
Giro says that the Mute Foam midsole was developed with feedback from Reed Boggs, Josh “Loose Dog” Lewis, and Graham Agassiz, who said that they were getting bounced off their pedals while riding rocky and rough trails. Giro claims that their new Mute Foam technology provides a slower rebound compared to typical EVA foam and that means that Mute Foam "reduces the typical fast bounce found in traditional midsoles, improving contact that results in more stability and increased control."
Giro Latch Flat Pedal Shoe
• Mute Foam injection molded midsole
• Tack Rubber outsole
• HDPE internal power plate
• Fast drying, one-piece microfiber upper
• Rockprint reinforced toe
• 3D molded footbed
• Gamma tread design
• Unisex last
• Wide stretch laces with lace keeper
• 334g (Men’s 43) / 300g (Women’s 39)
• Men's sizes 39-50 / Women's sizes 36-43
• $150 USD / €139.95
• Mute Foam injection molded midsole
• Tack Rubber outsole
• HDPE internal power plate
• Fast drying, one-piece microfiber upper
• Rockprint reinforced toe
• 3D molded footbed
• Gamma tread design
• Unisex last
• Wide stretch laces with lace keeper
• 334g (Men’s 43) / 300g (Women’s 39)
• Men's sizes 39-50 / Women's sizes 36-43
• $150 USD / €139.95
A mountain bike's suspension keeps a rider’s wheels in contact with the ground and in control and the goal behind Mute Foam was to try and achieve a similar function between the foot and the pedal, ultimately reducing bounce upon landing, improving foot to pedal contact, and providing the rider with more stability and control.
Alongside the Mute Foam midsole, Giro developed a new compound they're calling Tack Rubber for the outsole grip. They say that it's sticky, yet durable, and that its highly elastic characteristics enable the sole to contour slightly to the pedal on a downstroke and while descending. The new tread pattern on the Latch outsole now has more negative space between the tread lugs which Giro says allows pedal pins to easily nestle, while the chamfered and sloped edges of the lugs prevent the pins from getting hooked up.
Giro has also reengineered the footlasts across the flat pedal shoes in Giro’s lineup. There's reduced stack height for better control, a flattened toe spring for improved pedal contact, and increased forefoot width, to allow your toes to spread out to increase comfort and feel. The shoe is also, on average, 100g lighter than previous models with the men’s 43 weighing in at 334g and women’s 39 weighing in at 300g.
Additionally, Latch features a breathable microfiber upper, hydrophobic structural inners for faster drying, and minimal seams and stitching for increased durability. The women's shoes come in black, dark shadow/sandstone and harbor blue/sandstone, while the men's shoes come in black/dark shadow, dark shadow, trail green and black spark. They retails for $150 USD / €139.95.
 | Latch is a culmination of years of R&D to develop the absolute best flat pedal shoe on the market. We wanted to make an all-mountain shoe that would absolutely excel on the descents, while still performing on the climbs and being comfortable enough for long days on the trail. With Latch, riders get a shoe that does just that while also being durable, lightweight, and breathable. |
The men's shoes come in trail green, dark shadow, black spark, and black/dark shadow.
The women's shoes come in black, harbor blue/sandstone, and dark shadow/sandstone.
Delilah Cupp rides the new shoes in "Put Chatter on Mute"
The Giro Latch mountain bike shoe is available immediately from authorized Giro retailers and www.giro.com.
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Obviously the marketing men will talk about redesigning them around a woman’s foot but that’s usually BS
@Rudy2455: are you kidding with that color comment? And yeah all flats shoes look alike cause mtb'ers are so scared of standing out with either design or color they just want the same thing.
@wbro1974: On average women's feet have less volume in the heel in relation to the forefoot. So a proper last and pattern would account for that. But this is using the same last
2021: bro, how fast do you have the rebound set in your shoes??
The old white stormtrooper one with green insides had them. Dont know if they still do that as I haven't bought Shimano flat shoes for a while but it seemed a decent idea.
I recently tried the Northwave Tribes which worked quite well off the bike, but the fit was a little slack around the heel (Leading to a looser feel than I'd like) and the stitching started to come undone at the front of the toe box after one ride!
rideconcepts.com
No sole delamination, no peeling, no busted stitches. Doesn't mean you won't blow a sole looking at them on the shelf or split stitches in the car...but that's the best experience I've had with them.
And the grip is reason #1 for me. Giro touted everything about their soles in this ad, but they apparently don't have the slow rebound, high friction rubber like Stealth soles.
Stealth rubber's slow rebound keeps your shoe from pushing off the pins of the pedal. This ad seems to skirt around that attribute in it's description, so I'll assume they don't work as well.
I get it - its easy to generalize and maybe you've had numerous duds from 5/10. I've never ridden Giro anything so I can't say and you can obviously only state what you've experienced & heard from others so your experience is yours. That said, its only too easy to just full tilt pan something because of a few duds.
Great shoes.
Saying that... I’m currently riding rc and like them a lot.
I bought 4 pair of the Mi6 when they went on sale. Grip is so good.
I also have a pair of the Crankbrothers Stamp Speedlace flats. Only had them for a couple months though... but so far so good.
Does anything work for sticking the soles down again?
Stealth rubber hates Shoe Goo, so don't try it. You'll waste your money.
Maybe this fall, I'll pull trigger if they're still available.
These: www.unparallelsports.com/product/dust-up
1) grip was non-existent - the rubber on the bottom outsoles are just terrible
2) they fit large and loose
3) quality was definitely sub-par, especially for a pair of shoes that costs over $150CAD and I got them for somewhere around $100.
What's weird is, I've been experimenting with hiking shoes - shoes that I can wear for biking on my platform pedals and still be able to wear casually anywhere. I love Salomon shoes. However, I found that the pins on the platform pedals chew through shoes like you wouldn't believe. If people thing that the rubbers soles on these specific platform shoes are durable - they aren't. I've seen some pin gouge marks already in some areas of my 5-10 Freerider shoes already. The only shoes and my go to shoes is the Salomon Blackwood CS WP Hiking shoes. These are really great shows for several reasons:
1) They're made from real leather (suede) and solidly stitched (the 5-10 Freeride was cheap synthetic)
2) They're waterproof and the tough is gussetted (5-10 Freerider tongue is non-gussetted cheap tongue overlay)
3) lugs on the outsole is vibram and lug pattern is in line with the pins on the platform pedals.
What's surprising and works is the lug patterns actually made excellent grip with the pedals. Because the lugs are also deep enough, the shoes do not slip forward or backwards and the pins don't dig in through the bottom of the outsole, hence the pins don't actually wreck the soles or the lugs. It's pretty awesome! The uppers are tough - I've got my feet trapped in between the pedals and roots/stumps and the shoes are fine and these shoes protected my feet quite a bit even though it hurts when you hit roots or stumps with any speed.
Like I said, I tried other Salomon shoes - low top hikers and trail runners. Trail runner shoes have speed lacing and mess uppers. These are great but the lugs on these trail runners suck. The platform pedals chew through the outsoles like nothing. Other hiking shoes with diagonal or other dimpled patterns don't work with the pins. Only the Blackwood CS WP hiking shoes lug patterns work. Check them out. They're cheaper than any fugly looking platform shoes on the market. The only knock against the Salomon Blackwood shoes is the lacing. I wished Salomon would put their speed lacing on every one of their shoes. The lacing on this particular shoes is round and thick. So, they loosen as you walk or pedal. I have to tie the laces in double or triple knot to make them not loosen. Works 95% of the time, except for 40km rides where they do loosen 5% of the time. But I'll take this over the 5-10 shoes any day on any ride!
You can see the lug patterns here:
www.sportisimo.com/salomon/blackwood-csvp/206650
Also, one of my riding buddies also wear hiking boots for the very same reason. He says he wants more grip from his OneUp platform pedals and he couldn't get them from his platform specific shoes. Everyone laughs at him because those boots probably weigh 3X as much (probably over 5 lbs of extra weight)! But they work. The Salomon Blackwood shoes is a heck lighter and I think they're lighter than my 5-10 Freerider shoes. So, you don't feel any worse off than any other platform shoes you were wearing before.
Horizon pedals plus Freerider Pro shoes...you're not getting any better grip on this earth unless you're running Impact Pros and those essentially just have a thicker footbed so you sink into the sole itself a little more.
You have found a combo that makes you happy. But it took a lot of words to profess it.
People got butt hurt when they saw the soles because they are using their molds from when they made Teva's MTB shoes.
But folks failed to realize it was the Teva mold but used a new climbing rubber compound, not the old Teva compound
I mostly switched from 5.10 due to durability issues and I can't compare just yet, but after a solid season including downhill races they're pretty close to a like new condition.
I eagerly await Rockshox and Fox’s entry into the footwear market.
Fox Grip2 shoes anyone?
> increased forefoot width, to allow your toes to spread out to increase comfort and feel
means they realized their mistake
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.
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Looks like a Freerider